In an ever-changing digital world, marketers rely heavily on data to deliver effective, tailored messages to their customers. A vast number of marketing platforms make gathering customer data easy and can even segment users by demographics or behavior – but it’s not enough. Not anymore.

Consumers want messaging that’s relevant to their changing needs, which – even with data – is hard to keep up with. What’s the solution? Intent-based Segmentation.

What is intent-based segmentation?

Intent-based segmentation is a new kind of segmentation that predicts a user’s intent.

More common segmentation includes the use of demographics, geography, and behavior. All of these are helpful pieces of information that can group users together, but they don’t predict a user’s next move like intent-based segmentation does.

Users reveal their intent with every digital interaction. Visiting a website, watching a video, flipping through an online catalog, or requesting an ebook, for example, all offer insight into a user’s present state of mind. Intent-based segmentation analyzes all of these data points to interpret what the user wants in real-time.

Advanced mobile marketing platforms now offer intent-based segmentation. With the help of data science, the software can actually segment users into groups that are most likely to convert based on their intent.

How does it work?

Let’s say a travel app marketer is looking to sell 500 spring break packages to Cabo San Lucas. Using a marketing platform with intent-based segmentation, customer data is examined and analyzed to classify users into three categories:

• Least likely to convert
• Moderately likely to convert, and
• Most likely to convert

Using this information, marketers can allocate resources and create campaigns accordingly. For example, the ‘most likely to convert’ segment won’t require much to buy a ticket. They’re loyal users, and as a result, a marketer can send the offer via push notifications and likely get a high buy-in.

Separately, a marketer can create a stronger marketing plan for those in the ‘moderately likely to convert’ segment. By creating a customer journey, the travel company can “drip” marketing messages to this segment. The first in the series delivers an email for a special offer. The second is a push notification for a limited-time 10% off coupon. Users that buy a package receive a “Thank You” notification, while users that didn’t make the purchase are reminded that time is running out on the 10% off offer. 

Why use intent-based segmentation?

Intent-based segmentation has a lot of benefits, which include:

• Save time and effort

By understanding user intent, marketers spend time creating tailored content for users who are mostly likely to convert. Time is at a premium for most marketers and intent-based segmentation ensures that it’s time well spent.

Without this kind of segmentation in play, marketers could spend time crafting campaigns aimed at those who wouldn’t convert anyway or delivering campaigns to “the masses” in a last-ditch effort to get a few additional ticket sales.

• Messages are hyper-targeted

The purpose of segmentation is to create and send personalized messages to users, which users now demand. Research shows that personalized marketing campaigns see an almost 10% jump in user engagement.

While segmenting users by demographics and behaviors lends itself to more personalized messaging, intent-based marketing takes it one step further. Messaging isn’t just tied to the actions a user has taken, it’s tied to the predictive analysis of those actions. As a result, messaging is hyper-targeted.

• Focus on goals

Intent-based marketing is only possible when marketers set goals. The goal might be to sell out tickets for an event, increase pizza sales during the Super Bowl, or keep users from uninstalling an app.

Successful marketing stems from a goal-oriented plan, and for the first time, data follows suit. Marketers are given actionable segmentation that will help achieve a specific goal.

How to get started with intent-based segmentation

To start using this kind of predictive workflow, there are several steps involved.

• Define a goal

As mentioned, intent-based segmentation focuses on a goal. It’s the first thing a marketer must identify to use this form of segmentation successfully.

• See if the goal is realistic

Setting a goal isn’t always easy. Sometimes marketers aim too high, sometimes they aim too low. By using a marketing platform that deploys data science models, marketers can input their goal and see if it’s viable or not. Before segments are even created, a platform should be able to tell a marketer whether or not the goal is obtainable.

• Create segments

If a goal is viable, segments are created. As mentioned, users are divided by the likelihood of their actions. Marketers can plainly see which users are most likely, moderately likely, and least likely to convert. To figure this out, hundreds of dynamic, digital signals are analyzed to create a holistic view of the user and his or her intent.

All of this data-crunching is done behind-the-scenes. Marketers don’t have to waste time adding filters, inputting manual data, or staring at spreadsheets. Users are automatically put into each category.

• Engage the segments

With highly-defined segments in place, marketers can create the kind of tailored campaigns that actually work. Time is focused on users that will help achieve the marketing goal; not wasted on those who aren’t going to convert or who were already going to convert without much outreach.

• Watch the metrics

While intent-based segmentation has an element of predictive analysis to it, it’s still highly trackable. Companies can see how many users are expected to convert and what the success rate is in real-time. Easy-to-use dashboards make evaluating intent-based campaigns as simple as the segmentation itself.

Wrap up

It’s not enough to send messages based on user demographics or behaviors anymore. More and more data-savvy brands are relying on data to engage users, but intent-based segmentation amplifies personalization. Through predictive technologies, companies can tap into a user’s intent and deliver the kind of messaging that’s expected.

To utilize intent-based segmentation, marketers have to seek out a platform that’s ahead of the curve. Only a handful of platforms offer this level of data analysis, and to compete in a digitally-dependent world it will likely become a necessary tool. CleverTap is one such platform you should try!